PhytoMedical's anticancer agent shows 50% kill rate in vitro

New Jersey, USA-based PhytoMedical Technologies says that one of its line of developmental anticancer compounds has achieved a 50% kill rate of DMS 114 human lung cancer cells in an in vitro study. The research, which was conducted in collaboration with scientists at Dartmouth College in Hannover, New Hampshire, showed that the agents can intercalate with the DNA, disrupting the molecule's structure and thereby preventing cellular replication, leading eventually to apoptosis.

Gordan Gribble, leader of the Dartmouth team with which PhytoMedical is working, aims to develop a range of bis-intercalators that have a higher affinity for the DNA of cancerous cells than for that of healthy ones. In the reported study, several candidates were tested against cells of the DMS 114 strain of human small lung cancer cells, with researchers selecting the compound that achieved a 50% kill rate at the lowest concentration for further development.

PhytoMedical's chief executive, Greg Wujeck, commented that, "given the demonstrated cytotoxic effects of our patented DNA-binding compounds on lung cancer cells, and recently against an often fatal strain of human brain cancer cells, it would appear that our concept of using bis-intercalation against cancer holds a great deal of promise."